Sonwar residents worried over foul smelling tap water

Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Jan 2: Residents of Hamza Colony in Sonwar are worried over foul smelling water pouring from their tapes due to the negligence of Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department.
The locals alleged that the callous approach of the department towards this grave issue has put the lives of hundreds of residents at risk. “We have been visiting the office of the PHE from past one month but they are not showing any interest. They only delay the matter by saying they will look into it,” said Tahir Ahmad, a local resident.
He added that after pleading for more than a month the department had sent an engineer for the inspection but the official showed up with bare hands, without any testing and did nothing. “Her visit did not last for five minutes. She came and left. She had nothing with her. No testing equipment. She did not even lift the sample. She said she cannot work without electricity and left. She was in hurry,” he said.
An official of PHE said that they had sent an official for the inspection but she could not do anything as there was no electricity in the area. “This was not the only area where people are facing problems she has to visit other places as well. So she left in hurry. We are sending an official there after some of days to look into the matter,” he added.
The locals also alleged that the water supply pipe which was supposed to provide portable water to the residents has been left in the midway thereby snatching their basic right that is access to clean drinking water. “They have not laid the water supply pipe to our area. We are suffering immense hardships as we do not have any other source of water,” the locals added.
The PHE officials, however, said that the locals are not allowing them to lay the water supply pipe and to avoid any law and order problem the department has shelved the idea. “We have sent the details to the higher ups so that they can come up with a solution. We are waiting for their response,” they added.